The scrap yard
by Ridel
Summary: Challenges, plot-bunnies and random scenes. Universes/characters/pairings *if there happen to be any* detailed at the beginning of each chapter. Feel free to pose a challenge or request if you like. Enjoy!
1. Survival

**Universe:** Movie

**Character(s):** Allspark - OC - Tripticon

**Pairings:** None

**Rating: **K+**  
**

* * *

There was no voice behind the words. And yet Rachel heard and understood. As if the Allsparks sentiments where being printed in her mind.

**_'What does this mean?'_** It asked again.

Rachel took a deep breath. "That… they're going to take you out of me… and I'm going to die… you'll have no body again."

The Allspark said nothing. She wondered if it had understood her. If it even wanted to. Then it answered.

_**'They wish to make me a non entity again? I will not feel I will not  
taste will not see I will not consider? '**  
_

"…Yes, that's right."

**_'...No I do not wish this.'_** It said. Rachel chuckled. A wet, sad sound.

"Yeah, me neither." She sniffed.

**_'I do not wish this.'_** It repeated. **_'My vessel will go.'_**

She scoffed. "It's not like I wouldn't if I could." she protested.  
"But we're alone. For all we know, Broadband and the rest of the new sparks are dead. We're in a cell in a ship underwater, guarded by Decepticons. Even if we could get out of the cell, we'd have nowhere to go."

**_'_**_**My vessel wishes to stop? Go now.'**  
_

"Did you hear anything I just said? I don't want to _stop_, but there is_ nothing_ I can do!"

**_' GO NOW GO NOW . NOW NOW NOW.'_**

Rachel was temporarily overwhelmed by the force of the repeated order.  
There was still no voice, but the Allspark was screaming.

Suddenly she was flooded with emotions. Strong angry red, claustrophobic panic, shocking helplessness all churning in her chest, making it hard to breath. The worst part was, she wasn't sure if they belonged to the Allspark, or if she had simply lost the hold she'd had on her own. And all the while the Allsparks childish, petulant order rang round and round in her head.

"Allspark, I can't. Listen, Allspark? Stop. Stop that now! STOP RIGHT NOW!" She screamed. But the Allspark continued.

_**'I WILL NOT BE A NON ENTITY I HAVE HAD LIFE I WILL NOT GO BACK I WILL NOT BE A TOOL I WILL NOT GIVE UP MY VESSEL I WILL NOT BE IMPRISONED I WILL HAVE FREEDOM THE VESSEL IS MINE THEY WILL NOT MAKE IT STOP I WILL FIGHT THEY WILL PAY THEY WILL BECOME NON ENTITIES THEY WILL DIE.'**_

Unbidden by her, Rachels hands clenched and unclenched themselves. She hardly noticed when she got to her feet and started staggering around the room, until she hit the wall.

Her hands, under a power that was not her own, ran up and down the metal surface as far as she could reach.  
There wasn't room left in her for any more panic, but the focus of the emotion shifted from her trapped position, to the realization that she was no longer in control of her own body. That somehow, the Allspark was directing her.

"What are you doing?!" she shrieked. The Allspark, did not reply to her, but continued its rambling triad.

**_'THEY ARE STRONGER THAN MY VESSEL THEIR VESSEL IS STRONGER THAN THEY ARE I WILL TURN THEIR VESSEL AGAINST THEM I WILL LIVE I WILL LIVE I WILL LIVE.'_**

Her hands stuck to the wall as if they were magnetically drawn to it. The Allspark moved them along, following hidden circuitry and wiring. Searching for something.

Finally it seemed to find it. A small, hairline crack in the wall. Something Rachel never would have seen or cared about on her own.

A feeling of almost mad triumph washed through her. It was obviously the Allsparks emotion, she didn't understand why they should be feeling it. Nor did she have time to wonder. Seconds after finding the 

crack, Rachel felt the intensely painful and soothing feeing of new life leaving her and entering into the inanimate.

For the briefest of moments, through the pain, Rachel managed a confused thought.

There was no body. No old car or stereo system, but new life was going into something. Then the whole ship shuddered, throwing her from her feet. She with a yelp, she hit her head on the floor. When the shuttering stopped, she sat up, the cell seemed to swim in and out of focus.

Suddenly she doubled over in pain and retched violently. She'd always felt a little sick after brining the inanimate to life, but this was different. Her muscles were spasming and making her shake in a way that was instantly exhausting.

"What did you do?" She asked in a gurgling hiss. Saliva was dripping from her mouth in long strings. Even if she had noticed, she lacked the strength to stop it.

"Allspark. What's different. What did you do?" she mewled. But the Allspark made no reply. Suddenly the ship shuttered again. But this time it didn't stop. It grew stronger and stronger, accompanied by a sub bass growling that made Rachels very insides itch.

Suddenly the room tilted. She slipped in her own vomit and slid to the far end of the room. Had she had the strength she would have yelped, screamed, anything. As it was, there was only the thunk! as her body hit the far wall, which was quickly becoming the floor.

Not that other people didn't raise their own voices.

All through the Nemesis, curses where flung and explanations were demanded, which failed to be given.

The growling sound grew into a wild howl, mad and primal. Soon it was accompanied by furious, bewildered screams, as the ships internal defense systems turned on the Decepticons and picked them off.

Rachel felt that things had never been more out of her control. She was sick, She was terrified, she _hurt_ so much.

She curled in on herself, still laying on her side, and wept without restraint. And in the back of her mind, ignored by the hysterical girl, were printed the Allsparks words.

**_'__They would make me stop. I will not stop. They must all of them stop. I will stop all my creations. I will live. They will not live. No more Autobots no more Decepticons. I will live. I will not stop.' _**

* * *

**_A/N_**

And I suppose _this_ Ladies and gents, is how _I_ would write the whole "Girl-through-some-sort-of-kookiness-gets-fused-with-the-Allspark-sort-of-thing" story. :3

Incase it's not obvious,

Vessel Rachel  
Stop Die

The Allspark would not technically die if taken out of Rachel, but it would no longer be self aware. It would be a non-sentient computer program. Basically.

In this ficlet, the Allspark is new to being conscious, and is very selfish in that it would do anything to please itself. Trough Rachel it's able to experience things, like touch, music, sight and taste. As such, Rachel is very important to it, though it doesn't care what emotional turmoil she goes through. It thinks of her as little more than a conduit through which it may experience pleasing things (Not sex you ninny).

Right now, Rachel has been through so much crap, that the Allspark is the only thing keeping her alive. If it were to be removed, she would die.

She doesn't really know that much about Autobots and Decepticons, and as such is terrified by both, drawing no distinctions.

I certainly like wumping my Mary Sue's, don't I?

Anywhooo, What did you think?


	2. Oh my self serving love for you

* * *

**Universe:** This is a continuation of two one-shots I've already posted. Unless you'd just like to jump into the random, _which is fine_, you might benefit by going to my gallery and look up **How we've come to this** and **Convictions**.

**Character(s):** Fallout – Livewire – Elvy – Mathew.

**Pairings:** None:

**Rating:** K+ for a tiny bit of swearing. (No F-bombs or anything)

**Word prompt:** Here you stand before me. (More of a phrase prompt really)

**Write time:** I forget. :-p

* * *

**:AN:**

I actually wrote this back in November. I wrote a lot about Livewire and Fallout that month. But only a small portion of it was anywhere near being half decant. This was one of the few scenes I liked.

The ending is a little abrupt, but I'll be posting the scene directly after this fairly soon.

I know purely OC stories can be annoying, but still, if you've taken the time to read this, I would really like to know what you thought. Good, bad, ugly, you know the drill.

* * *

"And here you stand before me, pretending that you're innocent. That you've done nothing wrong! I gave you an order! I told you they were not to come! Do you have any idea what you've done? Answer me slaggit!"

Fallout was seething with rage. Elvy shrunk back against the wall nervously. Mathew looked similarly distressed. They'd seen Fallout annoyed before. Livewire seamed to annoy him on a daily basis. But they had only ever seen him truly angry once before, the night they'd been attacked by Decepticons.

But right now his rage was not directed at their mutual enemies. Livewire was the focus of his furious words and heated glare.

Livewire glared back, his gaze clearly saying, even if his voice wouldn't, that he knew he'd taken the right course of action no matter what the old solider said.

Fallout lost his patience with the scientist. "Nothing? You've got nothing to say?" He asked, voice dripping acid. "Well then in that case I won't let you waste any more of my time. You are hereby confined to your quarters until further notice. Take the humans with you, they are your responsibility from here on out. Now get your slagging aft out of my sight!"

Livewire stood still for a moment, barely controlling his own anger. For a heart stopping moment Elvy was afraid things might come to blows. But then livewire rose his hand in a mocking salute. "Yes sir." He said sharply, then turned to the two humans. "Come on." He said, and started to lead the way out of the radar room.

Matt looked at his sister, a pathetically lost expression in his eyes. Elvy knew exactly how he felt. Shrugging, she began to follow Livewire, Matt keeping pace right behind her.

They walked on in silence for a while, their footsteps echoing back and forth in the empty corridor. Finally, Elvy cracked. She just had to ask.

"Hey Wire?" she said in a voice so small she wasn't sure the Autobot had even heard her. Livewire stopped mid stride and turned back to her. Elvy looked away for a moment. She felt so very small.

"Why?" she asked finally. "Why didn't you tell us that Fallout had told you to leave us on earth? Why did you convince us that coming was the only safe thing to do? Matt and I, We're in deep now aren't we? I mean, way deep."

Livewire didn't say anything at first. He just turned away and pressed a key pad in the wall next to his door. He waved his arm and ushered the two humans inside, the door closed behind him as he entered. Livewire had not gotten rid of all the human stuff when Fallout had ordered him to obviously. But had simply moved it to his own room. Mathew had migrated from feeling lost, to feeling angry, thinking now that he, his sister and Fallout had been played for idiots.

Livewire could handle that coming from Matt. He had a tendency much like Fallout, to get angry. What Wire couldn't stand was the betrayed look Elvy was giving him. Her hands were crossed and she was staring up at him, eyes full of unease, confusion and hurt.

Livewire trudged over to his recharge berth and sat down on it heavily.

Elvy crossed the room and stood at his feet, glairing up with more and more anger. "Well?" she said. "Are you going to answer me or not?"

"It was to dangerous and he knew it." Said Livewire coldly. Elvy raised an eyebrow. Wire continued. "His spark was in the right place, probably, but he 

slagging well knew that it was to dangerous to leave you two on earth. And the Decepticons would have butchered you. He would have left you to die."

'Just like Quicksilver.' He added to himself.

Matt shook his head and stepped forward to join the conversation. "Fallout wouldn't have made the decision to leave us unless he was pretty damn sure we'd be safe on our own. We left our friends, our culture, our species our home! Because you told us that you and Fallout had both come to the conclusion that we wouldn't be safe on earth. Now it turns out that Fallout gave you instructions that would have kept us safe and on our own world, but you ignored them?"

"He was wrong!" countered Livewire forcefully, optics glowing brighter. "The Decepticons would have waited and killed you when you returned home."

"Bullshit!" Shouted Matt. Both Livewire and Elvy stared at him in surprise. Mathew continued. "Why the hell would the Decepticons wait around on earth, just to kill us when you were getting away with what ever that stupid file is supposed to be? They'd have to be fragging morons because they know that Elvy and I are no real threat to them. Where as you apparently have this great big secret that, if you get it to your people, will completely devastate them or something!"

Livewire was about to protest. Matt, seeing this, interrupted him before he could even start. "This isn't about keeping us safe at all, is it? This is about you!"

Elvy looked a little uncomfortable. Livewire was her friend after all. She didn't really want to hear him accused. But she had to ask herself, If Fallout had a plan, and a fairly good sounding one at that, why had Livewire lied to them and convinced them to come, even though they were heading into a war?

A flash of real fear passed through her at that moment. It had been more than terrifying enough when they'd been attacked by that small band of Decepticons before. But now, they were leaving all they knew behind and apparently Decepticon attacks were going to become a regular part of their lives.

Livewires Optics narrowed. "What do you mean all about me?" he asked angrily. Mathew continued unintimidated.

"It's about how we make you feel. Especially her." He said pointing at his sister angrily. Elvy took a step back, not understanding where that had come from.

Mathew took a deep breath. He'd had these suspicions for a while. But until now he'd never thought to bring them up. There was no need. But things had gone to far, and it wasn't just he who was in trouble. It was his little sister too. The person he was supposed to keep safe.

"Ever since we met, you've treated Elvy and I like kids. And maybe we are from your point of view. Fair enough. But I mean, you act a lot like our father some times. What do you think we are? Your children? Or isn't it Protoforms for you transformers? We're not!"

"Mathew I don't know what you're talking about!" cried Livewire, though inside he had a very small feeling that Mathew might be on to something.

"The hell you don't! I'm not blind Livewire! And I'm not as stupid as you apparently think I am either." Matt shouted, anger rising.

"Hey guys come on." Said Elvy, trying to calm the others down. Mathew turned on her.

"And you. You ate it up didn't you?" Elvy went ridged. Matt continued, shifting his verbal assault from the transformer to his sister.

"The attention. The thrill of going out and doing something that no other human could do. And stupid me, I fell for it to. Now look where we are."

"Mathew I'm trying to save your life! And your sisters!" Argued Livewire, cutting into Matt's rant. "You will be much safer here where Fallout and I can protect you."

"And when we reach your home planet, what then?" asked Matt, turning his burning eyes back to the Autobot. "There were only a few Decepticons back on Earth. And once you had left they would have had no reason for them to stay. Now we're going where there are tons of Decepticons and you know what? I don't think Elvy and I would last long in any serious fight. No I can't see as we'd be much help in that respect."

"I told you, Fallout and I will look out for you. And you'll be surrounded by other Autobots too."

"And if you're all to busy because Decepticons have… I don't know breached the perimeter or something?" Matt punched his fist into his hand and made a grinding motion. "Crunch! Elvy and I are suddenly just unfortunate red smears on the deck."

Elvy felt herself turning a light shade of green.

Livewire stood up, ready to counter Matt's statement, when suddenly he was interrupted by the sound of his door 'hwwwuuum'ing open. He glanced away from his verbal sparring partner just in time to see Elvy walk out. Not bothering to look back.

"Elvy? What are you-?" he began, but Mathew cut him off.

"Leave her alone. She's got a lot to deal with." He said, a certain level of venom in his words. "Besides, we're not finished yet."


	3. Shrugging off the pain

* * *

**Universe:** Same as last chapter.

**Characters: **Fallout – Elvy – Mathew

**Pairings:** None

* * *

**:AN:**

Basically the continuation of the last chapter. This will probably be the last ficlet about this group of characters I post.

* * *

Elvy stood in the door way to the bridge. She felt like an intruder here. Was she? After all, it had been Livewire who'd been sent to his room in effect. Granted Fallout had told Wire to 'take the humans with him,' but it wasn't really their fault. It wasn't as if they'd snuck aboard or anything. They'd actually thought that Fallout had known.

Fallout had his back to her, concentrating on the various readouts on the monitors, none of which meant anything to her.

She was about to clear her throat to get his attention, though she didn't really know what she was going to say yet, but Fallout cut her off without turning around or looking away from what he was doing.

"I thought I told you to go with Livewire." He said gruffly.

Elvy bit her lip nervously, but made no move to leave the room. Finally Fallout did turn from the screen and look down at her. He didn't look as angry as she thought he might be. But he looked very serious.

"Well?" he said, raising an optic ridge.

Elvy shrugged, feeling nervous like she had the second time they'd met. She'd known by then that he wasn't going to step on her or vaporize her or otherwise kill her. But she also knew that she was directly disobeying him. Oh well, it was this or go back to feel even more awkward caught in between the shouting match Matt and Livewire were currently having.

"He and Mathew are… talking about it. Very loudly in fact." She said, fidgeting a little.

Fallout scoffed and turned back to the displays. Elvy stood there a while longer, feeling more awkward then ever.

"I uh, heard about your plan. Finally." She muttered. Fallout didn't move. "For what it's worth, it sounds to me like it would have worked. Matt thinks so to."

"If you thought it was such a good plan," he asked at length. "Then why are you on my ship?"

Elvy frowned. "Fallout, Livewire didn't even tell us that you had a plan." She said. Fallout slowly turned in his seat. Elvy now had his full attention. "What?" he asked, sounding somewhat shocked.

Elvy took a deep breath. "He told Mathew and I that you had both come to the conclusion that it would only be safe for us if we came with you. Matt and I went through a lot of stress actually, because we had to come to grips with leaving our home. Well I mean, not just our home obviously. But like, everything we've ever known. Even the pop culture we've grown up with."

Fallout went from looking shocked, to furious. "He told you… That fragging glitch!" Fallout pounded the computer consol. His hand slammed down with an ear splitting metal on metal sound. Then he stood up.

"Elvy I want you to do me a favor." He said, striding over to her. Elvy had to Crain her neck to look up at him.

"Alright, what is it?" she asked.

"I need you to watch the monitors for me. I have some things to discus with Wire. I'll be sending Matt out as well."

Elvy shrugged her shoulders. "Alright what do I look for?"

Fallout bent forward and Elvy let him lift her up and carry her over to the monitoring station he'd just been sitting at. He set her down on the consol top. She would never have been able to reach the controls if he hadn't.

"Just watch these screens. If anything changes, or if it starts to blip at you or something, push this comm button and let me know."

Elvy nodded and watched as Fallout turned and left the room. Sighing she turned back to the screens. Nothing. Nothing… More nothing. But she supposed that was a good thing. More nothing meant that no one was close enough to actually be trying to kill them yet. A few minutes later Elvy heard very muffled, but raised voices shouting from somewhere down the hall. 'In wires quarters, where else?' she thought.

A moment or two later Mathew stomped into the room looking as dark and angry as a storm cloud.

"Got kicked out of the 'let's yell at Livewire 'till we're blue in the face' club?" She asked with a faint smile. Mathew grunted and leaned against a bulkhead in full on angry teen mode.

"Needed some air anyway. Besides, I don't think Livewire's getting it any better from Fallout. He looked pretty ticked off when he stormed in the room. What are you doing anyway?"

Elvy shrugged. "Fallout told me to watch the monitors while he chewed Livewire out for essentially tricking us into leaving our home world and dragging us into the middle of an intergalactic robot space war. I'm supposed to sing out if there are any changes and or whatever. Wana help?"

Mathew shrugged and strolled over to the consol. Elvy helped him climb up and he sat letting his legs dangle over the side. Elvy sat with her back against one wall and kept an eye on the screens.

"This is all your fault you know." He said suddenly. Elvy turned to look at him.

"My fault? How is this my fault?" She asked incredulously. Mathew cast her a side long glance and continued to swing his legs.

"Well if you hadn't been so darn adorable maybe Livewire wouldn't have wanted to freaking adopt you."

"Us." Corrected Elvy, nudging her brother playfully with her foot. "He freaking adopted both of us. What do you suppose he's going to tell that Optimus Prime guy when we get back to their home world?"

Matt chuckled. "They followed me home! I swear!" he said, throwing his hands up defensively and waving them.

His sister laughed outright. "And he won't get any help from Fallout that's for sure." She stuck her index finger out and shook it sternly. "They are your responsibility from now on Livewire." She said in a mock deep voice. 

"You have to feed them and clean up after them and love them and take care of them blah blah blah blah."

Matt smiled, then his face clouded over.

"Yeah. Cybertron… I guess we're really going to see another planet huh?"

"Yeah." Said Elvy absently. She was both excited beyond belief and scared out of her mind by the prospect.

"What's…" She trailed off. Then seamed to build up the courage to ask her question. "What's going to happen to us when we get there?" She asked timidly. "I mean… We'll be surrounded by soldiers. Giant robot soldiers. Think they'll take kindly to us popping up with Fallout and Livewire?"

Mathew thought for a few moments, then shook his head and shrugged. "I really don't know El. I mean, If Wire and Fallout are any indication we should have nothing to worry about. But I really don't know. I guess we'll see when we get there."

A long thoughtful silence descended on the two. After a while Elvy spoke up again. "Jeez, having your future a complete mystery, I mean, more a mystery than it usually is, is really the suck."

Matt smiled. "Yeah… it really really is."


	4. Not close enough

**Universe: **07Movie

**Raiting:** K+

**Word Prompt:** Not close enough.

* * *

It was no secret to anyone in the rag tag group of new sparks that Broadband and Dew-bot had something against Maggie. Nor that the something they had against her was simply the fact that she was the only human member of the family.

Broadband had even been so bold as to suggest (Discreetly at first, then more openly) that now that they had located all of their fellow New sparks, the humans usefulness had passed, and they ought to consider leaving her behind.

His suggestion had been met with shock, outrage, and in the case of Baseline and Shift, even near violence. Maggie was as set adrift as any of them. Unable to return home, or even to the general comforts of human society lest the sector catch up and make her _disappear._ She'd chosen to forsake everything she knew to help the New sparks find each other. So even though she was made of flesh and blood instead of metal and wire, she was every bit as much a part of the family as any of them.

At one point Shift had asked her while they were alone why Broadbands bigotry never seemed to make her as furious as it did the rest of them. Maggie had sighed.

"It's not that it doesn't hurt me. It really does. But I figure… Well Broadband is the only one of us whose mind is constantly connected to the internet. He doesn't really live in the real world. The net is useful if you need to find something out fast, but it's not the best thing to base your opinion of the human race on. It can be dirty and deceptive and hateful. So frankly, I'm not surprised he has a thing against humans."

Shift had countered this argument by pointing out, "I have never seen _you_ act dirty, deceptive or hateful. And okay I admit, I'm no fan of the sector, but just because _they _have done horrible things… I mean, I still don't apply their barbarism to the whole human race."

Maggie had shrugged. What could she do that she hadn't done already? Broadbands opinion was fixed. And because he considered Broadband to be the most intelligent of the group, Dew-bots opinion was too.

Yes it was no secret that Broadband and Dew-bot had something against their only human member. But no one had ever thought they would go so far…

* * *

Maggie opened her eyes again. It was a chore even to do that now. She was freezing cold and damp through to the bone. How long had it been since she'd first woken up here? It could have been minutes or hours. She was fairly sure it had not been a full day yet, though what little she could see through the roughly circular mouth of the dirt pit was dark. It must have been night by now.

She couldn't place the blame squarely on herself this time, as was her custom whenever anything went wrong.

The odd caravan had pulled off the road and found a secluded place in the woods to set up camp.

She should have been at least a little suspicious when Dew-bot volunteered to help her find and carry that nights firewood (The newsparks did not need the warmth or light that fire provided, but Maggie did, and every time they stayed outdoors for the night someone would help her collect wood).

But no, she'd been optimistic. Broadband had not been nearly as vocal about his dislike for the girl lately. Maybe he was calming down. Maybe without his constant disapproval Dew-bot would be more open to her.

It had rained recently, and all of the wood they found was wet. Dew-bot kept suggesting they check further and further from the camp. Even for Maggie, a girl bordering on the criminally naïve, his behavior was setting of warning bells. But she'd squashed the feeling, deeming it paranoia. Now was a fantastic opportunity to build some sort of bridge with him.

She tried to start conversations, made small jokes, and got his usual stony silence in return. Eventually, she stopped trying.

By the time the light began to wane, they had gone a considerable distance from the camp and found not a branch of suitable wood. The two had stopped by a fallen tree, which overhung a sink hole that had already sunk.

Maggie groaned. Bruno would offer, as he always did, to let her sleep in his cab. And although that option was preferable to freezing to death on the wet forest floor, she hated having to sleep in him. It made her feel all kinds of wrong.

Resigning herself to the inevitable, Maggie had turned to her partner to suggest heading back. But she never got the chance, because something hard and metal smacked into her head, and she had gone unconscious before she'd even hit the ground...

* * *

There was something crawling in her hair. Maggie made no move to get rid of it. She'd tried moving before. It had been a big mistake. She didn't know if her arm was broken, but frankly she was so num from the cold. Who could tell?

Obviously Dew-bot had thought her dead and left her there. And really, it was some sort of crewel flook that she wasn't. At one point, while drifting in and out of consciousness, she'd thought she'd heard Bruno calling for her. She'd tried to call back, but she was weak and her voice was hoarse. Real or hallucination, he hadn't heard.

Another thing that simultaneously lifted and dashed her spirits, was that she could hear traffic. Somewhere, just close enough to hear the echo of a cars passage, was a road. A road with people who were living that normal human life that she had given up not so long ago.

People who were blissfully unaware of the young girl who's life was slipping away, while she lay in a wet, cold, dirty hole.

Family or strangers, any one who could help. They were so very close. But not close enough…


	5. Guilty of loving you

**Universe: **AU (Human Element)

**Characters: **Flux - Deadlock (OC's both)

**parings: **One sided Flux/Deadlock

**Rating:** T - Gore and torture.

* * *

Deadlock was on his way to the last place on the base he wanted to be. Flux's lab creeped him out almost as much as the Decepticon herself did.

It was common knowledge that Flux had been locked away a long time ago, for experimenting on her fellow Autobots. She developed several viruses and other means by which to destroy from the inside out.

Her work had been absolutely brilliant, and Starscream had decided on reviewing it, that she would be a valuable asset in his growing power base. Deadlock had yet to understand why his commander surrounded himself with those who had only the barest of grasps on sanity. Perhaps he saw something of himself in them. Though Deadlock would never have voice that opinion out loud.

Upon being liberated Flux had listened attentively as Starscream explained what would be expected of her in return. And she donned the symbol of the Decepticons without a qualm.  
To her, the squabble between the Autobots and Decepticon was nothing more than background noise. As long as it didn't interfere with her quest for understanding, then she would gladly tune it out.

As Deadlock descended a narrow staircase into the darkened lower levels of the base, he started to pick up a strange sound.

It was music.

Human music to be precise. It grated on his audios like sand in an exposed joint. Some sort of english song about love. Somehow, it should not have surprised him that the sound was filtering out of the open laboratory door.

Despicable taste in alien music. Yet another reason to dislike Flux.

Without wasting time, because he really hated it down here, Deadlock knocked on the door frame and entered.

Flux had been bent over an examination table tinkering with something. Her back was to him and Deadlock could not see what. When she heard him enter she looked over and smiled.

"They're so fascinating aren't they? I love them." she gushed. Apparently unaware that Deadlock could not see what she had been working on. Nor did he care to.

"Starscream wants to know how far you've gotten with upgrading the resonator suits. He says you haven't turned in any reports recently."

The enthusiasm in Flux's face diminished a little. "Oh that. Yes I think I wrote a report…" She wiped some red liquid off of her hands and left the table to dig around in a far corner of the messy lab.

As she muttered and riffled, Deadlock found his gaze drawn and pinned to the table.

To a certain extent, he _liked_ humans. He even had one of his own and took no small pride in it as they tore a path through any battle field they entered. It had even saved his life once or twice.

No he did not love the species, and had no qualms about enslaving the lot of them. Even so, the sight of the writing silent mass on the table, cut open and spilling its liquids as it tried to pull against the restraints, gave him pause.

"Ah yes, here it is! I must have forgotten to send it up." Said Flux, returning and holding a scratched data pad out to him. Deadlock took it dumbly, then looked between her and the examination table.

"Don't we uh… need those?" he said, gesturing to the human. Flux followed his gaze. When she saw what he meant she chuckled and waved him off.

"Don't worry about it. He was damaged stock. Leg got pretty mangled out on the battle field. He wouldn't have been able to walk again so they gave him to me. Isn't he beautiful?" She walked back over to the table and motioned Deadlock to come closer. He hesitated, but followed stiffly. Flux took some sort of long metal tool from a stained metal container and indicated the humans exposed internal workings.

"They have a completely enclosed system. See this?" She indicated an organ that was beating a rapid staccato rhythm. "This is basically equitable to our own fuel pumps. We are very similar in several respects. Almost everything has a parallel."

From across the room Deadlock had wondered why the creature had been making no sound. It _looked_ agitated enough. But when he had come closer he could see why the human was silent.

He indicated the wound in the creatures neck questioningly. Flux shrugged. "I couldn't hear the music, so I disconnected its vocal system. Isn't this a lovely song? What a wonderful race. Primus but everything about them is so beautiful."

That was about all Deadlock could take. "Okay well!" He backed away. "I really should get this report up to Starscream. You uh… enjoy… your human." And with that he backed out into the hall and walked away. Very quickly.

"Come back any time! The lab's always open!" Flux called as Deadlock retreated. Then she returned to her table and sighed dreamily.

"He's really not such a bad mech." She told the human. Who _really_ didn't care.

"I wonder if Starscream will let me have him one day. Like he let me have you." With a soft little smile, Flux got back to work while the music played on.


End file.
